Not Without My Babies
by WizMonCruWil
Summary: "The weeks passed. Still lost in the wilderness, Harry, Ron and Hermione tried, in vain, to destroy the locket... So, in the meantime, the three adults took turns wearing the cursed thing around their necks. Under no circumstances were Rose or Hugo allowed to touch it, at least without Mummy, Daddy or Uncle Harry's permission. And the children could never, ever wear it." Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: Family Road Trip

**Chapter 1: Family Road Trip**

Harry Potter sat at one of the tables under the lit marquee, bouncing his three-year-old niece in his lap. Perched in the chair beside him, his three-year-old nephew, Hugo, pouted, poking at his slice of cake with the tip of his fork. The threesome were watching as Hermione Granger, in a red dress, danced with Ron Weasley.

Just then, Harry's gaze was torn away from his two best friends when he felt a tiny hand tug on his sleeve. "What's up?" he asked his niece. The little girl whispered in his ear. Harry couldn't stop the following groan. "I asked you about that ten minutes ago!"

"But Unca Harry! I didn't have to go then!"

Sighing, Harry discreetly beckoned over the Master Ceremonies, who - given that the theme for Bill and Fleur's wedding was medieval dress - was also doubling as the Town Crier. The tall, mustachioed gentleman also seem perturbed by the request, as evidenced by his needing to stamp his scepter and proclaim loudly, "Hear ye, hear ye! Princess Rosie has to go potty!" Under the silent, watchful stares of the other guests, the Town Crier then dutifully took the little girl by the hand and escorted her to the nearest loo. Under Ron's confused glance, Harry grimaced and shrugged. Hermione had a hand to her mouth, holding back a laugh and affectionate smile.

When Hermione had fallen pregnant with Ron's twins soon after she was un-petrified second year, the ensuing scandal had rocked Hogwarts Castle. It hadn't been planned - neither of the babies had been. To his credit, Ron had maturely proposed to his best mate and blossoming crush at not quite thirteen. Hermione had accepted, only on the condition that they marry when they were older, of age. She had categorically refused to give up the infants growing inside of her, and - in the spring of the Golden Trio's third year - had given birth to a boy and a girl.

For the next three years, the twins had been raised in the castle by their parents, and of course with their godfather, Uncle Harry, looking after them. The system had been difficult to set down at first, what with juggling classes and also saving the world from dark wizards, but the betrothed couple and their best friend had managed, somehow.

The dancing continued, Harry keeping his eyes on his friends even as he used one hand to stave off Hugo trying to mash his face into his cake. Ron and Hermione's long engagement would soon be over; they planned to hold their wedding in the next summer. That is, if they all lived through the coming war with Voldemort.

Deciding how to approach Harry's final mission had not been easy. Harry had stated that his friends were under no pressure to accompany him. In fact, he had started the conversation by attempting to decree that under no uncertain terms were Ron and Hermione to come along. They had the children, and Harry thought it best that they run with the babies and flee to America. Hell, he would foot the bill for them - whatever they would need. They could take Grimmauld Place and stay under the protection charms. But Hermione had gradually worn him down. She and Ron were going with him, she said - they would just have to leave the kids behind with the other Weasleys.

This decision, of course, had not come easily to Hermione. Harry knew that in a few weeks time, when they were to depart, she would struggle in letting her babies go. Neither she nor Ron had ever been separated from their children for any significant period of time since the twins had been born. But it would have to be done.

Because no way, on Merlin's green earth, were all five of them going on this damned fool's -

A sudden whooshing noise made Harry glance up, so that Hugo dodged his uncle's arm and finally got his face in that cake. A Patronus landed in the middle of the congregation and gave the most chilling pronouncement.

"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimegeour is dead. They are coming."

Rose returned from the loo as the Patronus was finishing its speech. Eyes as big as eggs, Harry grabbed for both of his godchildren, as the wedding dissolved into chaos.

"Stay close!" Harry commanded the twins, even as he vaulted all three of them over a table and they began to pelt for Rose and Hugo's parents. Black masses were now slamming into the marquee as Death Eaters arrived. Ron and Hermione clutched each other close, Hermione's eyes filled with terror as they locked onto Harry, and she beckoned her babies forward. With no time to waste, Harry clung to the only family he had left, and the quintet Disapparated.

They emerged on Chauntsbury Avenue, a Muggle street in the theatre district that Hermione knew well. Taking coverage in an alleyway, Hermione rummaged through her beaded bag, dealing out supplies to everyone. Hugo was already half-asleep, burrowed in Ron's arms; Rose, however, was wide-eyed and terrified.

"Where are we going, Mama?" she asked Hermione.

"Hush, little rosebud. Your uncle's going to take us to his place."

"I am? Where? I don't think Privet Drive..." But Harry fell silent at Hermione's expectant look, and then he remembered.

The five got into Grimmauld Place with no trouble.

"Ronald, there should be some toys in my bag; have Rosie play with them. I'll fix dinner."

"Yes, dear," Ron acquiesced. He and Hermione still rowed like they already were husband and wife, but ever since having children together, his willingness to step up without question had quite improved. It was understood between him and his lover that in sharing two babies, they were bound together forever. Marriage was inevitable. And they truly did love each other. Harry still had no idea sometimes how their relationship worked, only that it did. Plus, it had long been ingrained in Ron that family came first, above everything. He would remain loyal and faithful to the mother of his children, his son and daughter even more so.

Hugo was still maddeningly dead to the world as the group set up house. Hermione would often smile and say that he slept like his father. Ron didn't seem to mind. With his son still in his arms, he sat down at the grand piano and began clinking out Beethoven's 9th Symphony to keep the little boy asleep. Harry made himself useful by playing with Rose. After a second round of Tea Party, it was with great relief that he heard Hermione announce dinner.

The meal was a quiet affair, Harry contemplating the Snitch even as he helped feed a half-awake Hugo.

"Bedtime," Hermione ordered briskly, as she cleared the silverware with a wave of her wand. Cocooning Hugo in her embrace, she carried him up the stairs, Ron following with a nodding Rose, Harry dragging his feet as he brought up the rear.

It was only then that Harry even turned his tempestuous thoughts to sleeping arrangements. He knew of Sirius's old bedroom, and during Order of the Phoenix meetings, close to twenty people had stayed here with little trouble. But, he didn't know how many of those rooms might be warded by curses or other protection spells.

Hermione led everyone into Sirius's old bedroom, and Harry suppressed a groan. He had intended to use his godfather's old domain as his own room. But the bed was a double size, and he knew inherently that only one arrangement would be proper.

"Mummy, can Hughie and I sleep with you and Daddy tonight?" Rose chirped.

"Well, I don't know if this bed is necessarily meant for four, Rosie," Ron chuckled. "But I suppose it couldn't hurt."

Hermione smiled tiredly. "It will be fine, Ron. It will be good practice for when we're married." Growing up in the castle, Rose and Hugo had stayed with their mother in her dormitory, dozing in bassinets at the foot of her four-poster bed. If late night emergencies had arisen, a Muggle baby monitor had been employed to summon Ron; Harry's Invisibility Cloak, his safe passage.

"Where am I supposed to sleep?" Harry yawned, the query coming out ruder than he meant it to.

"You can take the floor, mate," Ron called over his shoulder, as he placed Rose on the bed and started to dress her in her pajamas.

Rose giggled through the jammies being pulled over her head. "Uncle Harry has to sleep on the floor!" Harry scowled, though it was directed at his niece without any malice, and this only made her laugh harder.

"What about the couch downstairs, Harry?" Hermione suggested.

Harry didn't want to sleep on the couch, but he held his tongue as the children were tucked into bed. Caressing their hair back, Hermione gently began to sing them a lullaby:

 _"I'm your music... I'm your song... play me time and time again, and make me strong. Make me sing, make me sound. Andante, andante, tread lightly on my ground..."_

Ron and Hermione then crawled into bed together, their babies nestled between them. Harry prowled downstairs to the living room couch, conjuring a pillow and blankets. The cushions were hardly comfortable at all.

"King - of the - couch!" Harry punctuated each word with a punch to his pillow, wailing on it several times to try and get it at least somewhat fluffy. "Uh, this is ridiculous..." The Hunt had not started off the way he had planned - in fact, it had gone in the last scenario he had wished to see. A high-stakes mission was no place for toddlers, and he went to sleep trying to think of a way to get Rose and Hugo to safety, leave them behind somewhere safe.


	2. Chapter 2: Going Camping

**Chapter 2: Going Camping**

Harry's bad mood from an awful night's sleep was only made worse at breakfast the next morning. His suggestion of making a detour to drop Rose and Hugo off somewhere safe went over his friends' heads like a lead balloon. Now that they were wanted fugitives and officially on the run, Ron and Hermione figured that even attempting a trade-off to say, Bill and Fleur, or another one of Ron's family was too risky. Harry's next suggestion - to Portkey them to Australia to the brainwashed Grangers was shot down even more quickly. "Leave Rose and Hugo with their grandparents who don't remember them? Are you barking, mate?" Ron had roared.

Harry didn't know what answer would appease the young parents. He just knew Rose and Hugo couldn't stay with them. Especially not when the adults were planning to somehow break into the Ministry to locate a possible Horcrux. Before leaving the Burrow, Harry had gotten a tip that a Horcrux might be inside the Ministry for Magic, which was now under Voldemort's control. Disguising three adults would be hard enough. Disguising two toddlers would be damned near impossible.

"Leave them here in Grimmauld Place while we're gone," Ron pointed out. "The charms are in place, no one else can get in..."

"Alone? You want to leave our babies alone in an empty house, Ronald..."

"They won't be alone, love - you'll be with them."

"Oh, so you think I'm going to keep house and do the child rearing while you and Harry go get yourselves killed? Think again!"

"My rucksack!" Harry blurted out, ending the argument. "I'll keep them in my rucksack with an Extendable Charm and put wards all over it!" This settled the matter.

* * *

The Ministry break-in was a success... barely.

With the children hidden in Harry's rucksack, the Golden Trio abducted three Ministry employees, and took on their identities with Polyjuice Potion. With great ingenuity, they managed to steal the locket of Salazar Slytherin right off of Dolores Umbridge's neck. But before they could sneak back out of the building, the potion wore off, and a Death Eater named Yaxley pursued them in a mad dash to the lifts, grabbing onto them as they were Disapparating.

In the vacuum of time and space, Hermione dislodged the man right into Grimmauld Place, before spiriting her family to somewhere deep in the wilderness. The sharp, reckless traveling Splinched Ron, leaving him badly injured.

With shaking hands and tender looks, Hermione applied the Dittany to her husband-to-be, as Harry broke his godchildren out of the rucksack. Rose and Hugo offered their own comfort by lying on top of their father and kissing his wounds.

"Boo-boo's all gone, Daddy. Feel better," Hugo pronounced.

"Kiss him, Mummy. That way, Daddy will feel better," Rose suggested.

Beaming at her children, Hermione bent her head and kissed Ron lovingly, with the kiss quickly becoming indecent. Hugo was not pleased.

"Yuck!" he made a face, even as Rose laughed, her eyes shining. She thought her parents' love was very romantic. For his part, Harry had to agree with his nephew.

"Yeah, Hugo," he smirked. "Yuck."

The quintet set up the tent that Hermione had brought with them in her beaded bag. The little abode was equipped with everything they needed: three bunks, a kitchenette, and a small bathroom.

It was just as well, for the day was waning fast, long shadows dancing and stretching on the trees outside. Hermione gathered some known edible herbs just outside the tent, and set to work at the stove making a soup out of them, occasionally turning her attention away from the pot to help Ron change their children into footie pajamas.

After a meager supper, Harry lit a magical flame in the grilled fire pit in the center of the tent. Sitting around it, the little thrown-together family plotted their next move. The orange flames dancing in their orbs, Rose and Hugo looked far older than their three-and-a-half years.

"Well," Harry held court at the head of the fire. "That could have been a lot worse. We made it out of there with the locket. So... we've only got to do this three more times. Find a way to destroy them. Then... that'll take care of it." There was a pregnant pause as he regarded the four pairs of irises staring back at him over the tops of the flames. "Well... what do you think?"

Ron raised an eyebrow. "That's your plan?" There was an unusual edge to his voice, strained all the more by the locket, which was currently around his neck.

"That's... pretty much it," Harry conceded.

Ron said nothing beyond a funny snort. Harry frowned, but decided to let the moment pass.

Hugo piped up. "Uncle Harry?"

"Yes, my boy?" Harry rumbled affectionately.

"Maybe we don't have to steal these Horc... Horcrux..."

"Horcruxes, honey," his mother corrected for him. Beside them, Ron flinched sharply, as though he was displeased with his future wife teaching their children that word. To him, it was like a curse, a slur - a point that Harry had to agree with.

"What do you mean, sport?" Harry frowned.

Rose now picked up the thread, reaching for her mother's beaded bag. "Hugo and I have been thinking..." she began, pulling out a flat box.

"It's our treasure chest," Hugo explained.

At Harry's perplexed expression, Hermione flushed. "They asked me to pack it. Before we left. To have something to remember them by..." Of course, none of them had realized the children would be going with them.

"See?" Hugo opened the box. "There are jewels!"

"And _diamonds_!" Rose's voice was breathless. They weren't really jewels and diamonds, but Harry wasn't about to tell them that.

"Take them, Uncle Harry. You can sell them," Hugo suggested.

"And then with the galleons, you could buy back the Horcruxes!" Rose finished proudly. From the smug look on her face that reminded him so much of Hermione, she evidently thought this was an airtight plan.

Oh! If only it were that easy! Harry had to fight back tears as he regarded the little trinkets his niece and nephew had accrued. "Thank you, children. All these... wonderful things: they're very precious. But, I..." He coughed to clear his clogged throat. "I don't think people might appreciate their value." It was the closest he could come to telling them the truth - that the Horcrxes couldn't be bartered or traded for, or taken in any way without a fight.

Rose cocked her head, her blue eyes - like Ron's - inquisitive. "Why not, Uncle Harry?"

With a tender smile, he reached out to tuck his niece's hair back behind her ear. "Because people don't see things the way you do."

Ron then took charge, saving Harry by changing the subject. "Now, come on, time for bed - Uh! There we go!" He grunted as he lifted Rose into the one bunk. Hermione swept up Hugo, cuddling him for a moment before he followed. The two children would have to share one bunk; their parents another. Harry would take the remainder. "And don't you worry," Ron reassured his children as he tucked them in. "Things are going to turn out right somehow."

"Children, say goodnight to your uncle," Hermione prompted in her motherly voice. Rose and Hugo leaned over the edge of the bunk, lips puckered.

"Goodnight, Uncle Harry."

"Goodnight, my boy."

"Goodnight, Uncle Harry."

"Goodnight, my darling."

"Mummy?" Rose murmured sleepily. "Will you sing to us?"

Hermione beamed with pure love. "Of course, I will, rosebud." Harry placed a hand on her arm.

"I'll take first watch." And he exited the tent to give the family some privacy. But even out beyond the flap, he could hear Hermione singing lovingly to her son and daughter.

 _"A gentle breeze from Hushaby Mountain softly blows o'er Lullaby Bay. It fills the sails of boats that are waiting. Waiting to sail your worries away. So close your eyes on Hushaby Mountain. Wave goodbye to cares of the day, and watch your boat on Hushaby Mountain sail far away from Lullaby Bay."_

The lullaby finished with Rose and Hugo fast asleep. Hermione caressed and kissed her babies before turning to the one bunk where Ron was waiting, a lovesick grin on his face. She smirked at him, amused.

"Voice like an angel," Ron breathed. "And looks to match."

"Hmm," Hermione purred as she pulled back the covers and snuggled up next to him. "Keep talking like that, and you might get shagged."

Ron's eyes gleamed in the darkness. "Thought you might want to wait until marriage, love."

Hermione's gaze drifted back to their children. "Little late for that, Ronald." Then, feeling bold, she pushed Ron back into the mattress and swung one creamy thigh over to straddle him. "Make love to me. Please."

"As you wish, my love."

And pulling her nightdress over her head, Hermione stretched languidly over her paramour and kissed him deeply. Ron growled and slipped his tongue in between the split.

"Harry will figure out we're having sex."

"Well, no one ever said he was dumb," Hermione grinned. Swiveling her hips, she began to make slow, sweet tender love to him...

* * *

The weeks passed. Still lost in the wilderness, Harry, Ron and Hermione tried, in vain, to destroy the locket. Only a select few substances had the power to destroy such dark Magic - none of which were at their immediate disposal. So, in the meantime, the three adults took turns wearing the cursed thing around their necks. Under no circumstances were Rose or Hugo allowed to touch it, at least without Mummy, Daddy or Uncle Harry's permission. And the children could never, ever wear it.

For the parents and godfather quickly realized that the Horcrux was alive. That it fed on their emotions, making them short-tempered. Ron seemed to be affected the worst. He would be short with Harry, yell at Hermione with no warning, and even act cold and distant around the kids. However, as soon as the locket was not on his neck, Ron would calm and apologize for anything he might have said or done out of anger. For Hermione, this usually involved heated snogging and make-up sex in either their bunk or in the shower of the locked bathroom. And more than once, Harry observed Ron wake up his kids at night, to ask them, "How could You-Know-Who think that there's anything possibly wrong with you?"

As fall chilled into winter, Harry became nervous. Ron had pretty much hit it right on the head that first night they were in the wild - he didn't really have a plan. And this locket had to be destroyed. On a hunch, he announced to his family that he wanted to investigate his birthplace of Godric's Hollow, that it might yield answers. Hermione volunteered to go with him; Ron would be left at the tent with the kids. As the little family bid their goodbyes, Ron wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist and held her close.

"Now, you come back to safe to us, you hear me?" And he kissed her on the lips deeply. Closing her eyes, Hermione melted into the kiss with a moan, holding it for a moment longer even after Hugo made his opinion on his parents openly kissing clear.

The lovers broke apart with a tender smile. "I love you," Ron rumbled with adoration.

"I love you too," Hermione sighed. She knelt before her children. "Give Mummy kisses, darlings!" And she kissed each of them and hugged them tightly. "Mummy and Uncle Harry will be back soon, we promise!"

And they did return, by late night, but only after having barely escaped with their lives, Harry's broken wand, and no answers.


	3. Chapter 3: Take Us Instead

**Chapter 3: Take Us Instead**

"That tricky little bleedster! Is there no one we can trust?" Ron fumed, as the quintet Apparated back into the woods. They had just come from an impulsive meeting with Xenophilius Lovegood, and nearly been captured by Death Eaters in the process.

Harry shrugged, stalking through the clearing to begin re-creating their campsite. All at once, a leering man in a dirty overcoat rose up out of the leaves.

"Well, what do we have here, lads?"

Instinctively, Harry threw his body wider to shield Hermione and Rose and Hugo.

"Hermione..." Ron's voice was low. "Take Rosie and Hughie and run!"

Harry sent a Stunning Curse into the intruder's face and the five took off running. "SNATCH 'EM!" the injured leader bellowed.

A group of Snatchers gave chase, twigs snapping and curses flying as the Golden Trio and their charges pelted through the trees. But no matter what spells the five threw back behind them, the pursuers gained. Finally, out of options, Hermione spun around with Rosie in her arms, Hugo across her back and surprised Harry with a Stinging Jinx, to conceal his face and identity.

Ron barreled into the ring of Snatchers. "Get your hands off them!" He coughed, as someone's fist rammed into his gut.

"Let him go!" Hermione begged, as hands grabbed for her. "No... NO! Rosie! Hugo!"

"Your boyfriend and little brats will die quickly unless you shut it!" the lead Snatcher threatened. Curious, he held a crying Rose and Hugo to the light, one toddler in each fat fist. It was obvious the little ones' collective presence confused him. "Well, now... playing house in the woods, are we? These ones will be my favorite, I reckon..." Hermione's blood ran cold.

"You touch either of them, I swear to Merlin..." Ron growled.

"What do we do with them, Scabior?" a thug asked the Snatcher holding Rose and Hugo.

Scabior sneered. "Take 'em all to Malfoy Manor!"

* * *

Bellatrix Lestrange was deeply puzzled by the sight that had just spilled into the Malfoy's drawing room with little warning. A ginger, a Mudblood, a young man who may or may not be Harry Potter, and two whimpering toddlers.

And in their possession was... no, it couldn't be...

"Where did you get that sword?" Bellatrix demanded, her one eye twitching in fear.

"It was in her bag when we found them," Scaboir gestured to Hermione. "Reckon it's mine now."

There was a vicious snap as a taut rope spurted from the end of Bellatrix's wand, curling around Scabior's neck like a whip. Yelping in fright, Rose buried her face into her mother's jeans, whilst all the Snatchers save one - the werewolf Fenrir Greyback - fled the mansion in terror.

Bellatrix prowled over to the cache of prisoners. Though her voice was relaxed, almost conversational, Harry sensed that the Death Eater was holding off a barely concealed panic.

"Where did you get this sword?"

Hermione visibly gulped. Her mouth clenched shut. Harry, Ron and Hugo secretly eyed each other, Ron holding a finger to his lips to signal that his son remain silent.

"We found it," Rose's voice broke the silence.

"Hush, little rosebud," Hermione whispered desperately. Too late. Bellatrix's eyes gleamed, and she bent before Rosie, her smile disturbingly sweet, her timbre smooth as honey. Only the honey was laced with poison and arsenic.

"And where did the pretty little rosebud find the sword? In my fault at Gringotts?"

"No, Bellatrix," Rose answered honestly, her gaze even. "In the woods."

Bellatrix flinched in disbelief. "You dare address me by name? You filthy MUDBLOOD SPAWN!" Flying into a rage, she flung the teenagers back towards Greyback, even as she roughly dragged a terrified and simpering Rose and Hugo towards the center of the room.

"Put Mummy and Daddy and Ugly-Face in the cellar! Auntie Bellatrix is going to have a little chat with these brats!"

"NOOOOOO!" Hermione wailed. "You can have us, keep us!"

"Keep us, please!" Ron begged.

Bellatrix's eyes swiveled back towards the desperate parents, her gaze particularly fixed on Hermione. It was obvious the presence of the Muggle-born disgusted her. "Very well." She flung the children back at Harry, who barely caught them even as he was tied up and pinned by Greyback. "Put the little Mudblood's pups in the cellar with Ugly Face, while I discuss matters with Mummy and Daddy!"

Rose and Hugo were now wailing, screaming, and the spastic motions of Greyback made it clear that he had no idea how to handle them. He eventually just elected to follow orders, dragging the kids and Harry down towards the cellar.

"Rosie, Hughie, my lovelies, Mama and Daddy love you, OK?" Hermione's voice was gentle and soothing, though it cracked in odd places. "Mummy and Daddy love you so much..." She finally broke down as Bellatrix yanked her back further by her hair towards the center of the room; the young witch quickly became hysterical. "Harry, please take care of my babies! Please!"

Harry nodded solemnly as the drawing room closed on them; the last thing he saw was Ron and Hermione being forced to their knees before Bellatrix. The couple looked at each other in fear, and wordlessly, they clasped their hands together and squeezed. Ron even dared to brush Hermione's lips lightly with his in a gentle kiss.

"I love you. I'll always love you," he vowed.

"I know. I love you, too," Hermione confessed. "I am so proud that I had children by you."

Both Ron and Hermione were kicked onto their backs by Bellatrix, and the torture began.

"CRUCIO!"

* * *

As soon as they heard their mummy and daddy's screams from above, Rose and Hugo utterly lost it.

"MUMMY! DADDY!"

"Rose. Hugo." Harry's voice was stern. The children knew that voice. That was his godfather voice, and by that they knew that they would have to obey him as they would their parents. "We're going to get Mummy and Daddy back. But in order to do that, I need you both to be quiet, stay calm, and do exactly. as. I say."

"OK," they both whispered, brokenly, their eyes shining with tears in the dim light.

Just then, an airy voice called out, "Harry? Rose? Hugo? Is that you?"

It was Luna Lovegood, along with Dean Thomas and Mr. Ollivander. These three had apparently been locked up in the Malfoys' basement for months. They quickly freed Harry and the children. Soon after, who should appear, but Dobby the house elf. Harry tried to get the elf to take the other five to Shell Cottage and safety, but was met with resistance from the little ones.

"No, Uncle Harry! We wanna help!" Rose cried.

"Yeah, we wanna rescue Mummy and Daddy!" Hugo added.

Harry had no choice but to let Dobby and the other three prisoners Disapparate. From above, the torture paused as the Malfoys and Bellatrix were alerted to the CRACK! "What was that?" Lucius bellowed. "No, send Wormtail! Make him go and check!"

Harry threw together a plan in seconds. "Children! Get away from the door!" Rose and Hugo shrank against the wall. As soon as Wormtail entered the cellar, Harry jumped him, wrestled him to the ground, and confiscated his wand, throwing it back to Hugo. When Wormtail put up a fight, Harry had no choice but to quietly strangle him to death.

Raising a finger to his lips, Harry took the wand from Hugo and motioned to the stairs. _Follow me._ The trio crept up the stairs and back to the drawing room. On the edge of the room, they saw Ron and Hermione, clearly weakened but alive, on their knees before Bellatrix. Harry counted down in a harsh whisper.

"Three... two... one..." They rushed into the room.

"MUM! DAD!" Rose cried.

Hermione shot a look at her daughter, her eyes full of nervous energy. "Rose, Hugo - close your eyes, sweeties, we don't want you to see this, OK?" And before the Death Eaters knew what was happening, Ron and Hermione had managed to jump their captors, grab wands and curse Bellatrix and her mates silly. Harry sprinted forward with the children and grabbed his friends. Then the quintet squeezed themselves into darkness.

* * *

Aside from deep cuts and bruises and the clear effects of the Cruciatus Curse, Ron and Hermione were expected to make a full recovery. Confined to a shared bed temporarily, Ron and Hermione beckoned their babies forward, and the family cuddled together in relief on the coverlets.

"We're so glad you're safe..." Ron moaned.

"We thought we'd never see you again!" Hermione wept.

Harry laid a gentle hand on Hermione's shoulder. "May I speak with you alone?"

He helped her out of bed and led her out into the hallway. As soon as they were on the landing, Hermione stood on her tiptoes and threw her arms around him.

"Thank you," she croaked, her voice tight with emotion. "For my children. I knew I did something right when I named you godfather."

"Don't be silly, 'Mione," Harry waved off. "But now, I think it's time that we leave them here, at this safe house. As soon as you and Ron are better, we proceed on alone. Fleur will look after them."

Hermione peered at him, clearly looking pained, her eyes filling with tears. "OK."

It was a heart-wrenching goodbye, that morning the following week. Hermione sobbed as she clutched her children close, and hugged them and kissed them, her lips drenched with tears that also fell on her little ones' upturned faces. After ensuring that Auntie Fleur had escorted Rose and Hugo back into the house, Hermione took the hair of Bellatrix Lestrange, added it to the Polyjuice Potion and downed the substance. Transformed into the evil witch and with Harry under the Invisibility Cloak, the Golden Trio proceeded on to Gringotts Wizard Bank, and the next possible Horcrux.

* * *

The three had another close call at the bank, barely making it back out with the Horcrux - Hufflepuff's Cup - alive. Flying on the back of a dragon, they dropped down into a lake in the countryside and proceeded into Hogsmeade Village. Aberforth Dumbledore, Albus's brother, saved them from the alarms and patrolling Death Eaters, granting them safe passage into Hogwarts Castle via a portrait hole in his pub.

The Golden Trio emerged into the Room of Requirement, to find Dumbledore's Army and the rest of the Weasleys waiting for them. Bill and Fleur were included, having brought their niece and nephew along, and it was an emotional reunion for the children and their parents. With loved ones together again at last, the castle prepared for battle and Voldemort marching onto it.

The Battle was fierce and many lives were lost. Through the memories of Severus Snape, Harry learned that he was a seventh, accidental Horcrux. Saying goodbye to Ron, Hermione, Rose and Hugo - the only family he had - Harry gave his best friends his blessing on their upcoming wedding and marriage. Telling his nephew and niece that he was going on a "really long trip," Harry walked to his own death in the Forbidden Forest. When Voldemort hit him with the Killing Curse, only the piece of his soul inside Harry was killed, allowing Harry to rise from the dead and return to the living. This Harry did, and he finally defeated the Dark Lord in a climactic duel, achieving mastery of the Elder Wand.

Ron, Hermione, Rose and Hugo were the first ones to reach him. And then Ginny was there, and taking the Weasley girl in his arms, she and Harry shared a long kiss.

* * *

That summer, Ron and Hermione stood under the marquee in the Weasleys' back garden. With Hermione in a simple white dress and Ron in a tuxedo, with Rose as the flower girl, Hugo as the ring bearer, and Harry as Best Man, Ron and Hermione were married and declared husband and wife. Sweeping Hermione into his arms, Ron snogged her senselessly. Smirking in bemusement, Hermione then cupped Ron's face in her hands and gave him a long, relieved kiss in return as flower petals floated down around them and George sent fireworks shrieking into the air. When the couple broke the kiss at last, beaming, Rose and Hugo leapt into their parents' arms.

And that is how, Ron and Hermione and their children and Harry lived happily ever after.


End file.
